A News Blog

Keeping you in the know in the world of politics

TUSCALOOSA | Today Republican presidential candidate John McCain met with Franklin Graham and his father, Billy, the most revered evangelical minister in the world, in what is being interpreted as an attempt to shore up his support on the religious right. But McCain, who famously labeled Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell as “agents of intolerance” in his run for the nomination against George Bush in 2000, only to seek out their support as he headed into this year’s… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | Playing off the love fest in Unity, N.H., where Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama and his main party rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, appeared together for the first time to rally the troops, the Chicago-based Obama campaign organized 3,000 “Unite for Change” house parties across the nation today. There were even as many as 30 of the events, which combine the Obama “change” mantra with the new push for “unity,” in Alabama, including the one I dropped in… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | On the atmospherically-perfect day in which Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton kicked off the real Democratic campaign in Unity, N.H., where was John McCain? In some dingy General Motors plant taking a tour with a bunch of tired-looking old white guys, that’s where. Seems he could have picked a better venue than the greasy floor of a company that just may be on the verge of going out of business. But come to think… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | Well, I have it on good authority that there were no “fist bumps” from Michelle Obama when she was in Mountain Brook Monday for a fund-raiser for her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. But there was plenty of cash raised — a quarter of a million dollars for the Obama campaign, according to The Birmingham News. So what’s Michelle Obama really like? Former United States Attorney Doug Jones, who attended the noon soiree at the home… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | The United State Postal Service unveiled the Alabama version of the “Flags of our Nation” special edition 42 cent stamp in Montgomery today, but I’ll be darned if I can find a picture of it anywhere. Oh sure, Gov. Bob Riley’s office sent out a press released this morning hailing the custom-designed stamp — each state will have their own featuring their state flag — which appears to crowd the flag and a shrimp boat on it (what,… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | The Montgomery Advertiser had a curious story in its Sunday edition in which writer Sebastian Kitchen, under the headline “Questions linger in Siegelman case,” proceeded to ask — but not even attempt to answer — many of those question about the circumstances surrounding the federal indictment, prosecution, conviction, incarceration and release pending on a highly unusual decision decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Here’s the story. The fact that some answers, admitted contradictory depending on who’s… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | Is Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, who unveiled his own “presidential seal” last week, getting a little too big for his britches? The seal, which you can see with this post alongside the official presidential seal and the original Obama logo, seems to me a bit presumptive, just as many commentators (me not included) think he was being disingenuous in opting out of the public campaign financing system he had previously supported. On the latter point, I… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom I’ve tended to be ambivalent about but predisposed to like based on what I’ve heard from him, make an incredible speech in Florida today laying to rest the rumor campaign about Barack Obama, which he labeled, well, “lies.” While still remaining admirably neutral in the presidential race, the billionaire Democrat-turned-Republican, was speaking to his constituency in Florida and made more excellent points than I would even try to recap here. I highly… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, will be in Birmingham Monday for a couple fund-raising events. In what is being billed as a “luncheon benefiting [the] Obama Victory Fund,” Obama will be at the home of Hillery Head and Giles Perkins, 24 Ridge Drive, in Birmingham for a “Host Reception” at noon, followed by a “General Reception” at 12:30 p.m. The difference in the two receptions may not be much in kind, but they… Read More »

TUSCALOOSA | State Sen. Vivian Figures, the long-shot Democratic nominee to take on entrenched Alabama Republican U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, is finally attracting some attention outside the state. Figures has been selected as a candidate in Sen. Fuss Feingold’s Progressive Patriot Fund’s “Pick A Progressive Patriot” competition, which from what I can tell is sort of an “American Idol”-type online voting contest with a grand prize from the Wisconsin Democrat’s Political Action Committee of $5,000 for one of the nine… Read More »